The New Dinosaurs: The Alternative Evolution
This is a seven-part live-action/CG TV miniseries based on Dougal Dixon's 1988 book of the same name that airs on MYNetworkTV, starting on September 6, 2019. It is made in Australia and produced by Fred the Ostrich Enterprises. Episodes #The Ethiopian Realm - This realm's forests (Sub-Saharan Africa and Arabia) are home to several "arbrosaurs", a group of small tree-climbing coelurosaurian theropods, including a wasp-eating variety. In the savanna, huge striding and terrestrial pterosaurs such as the giraffe-like "lank" are present whilst the deserts are home to coelurosaurs adapted to a lifestyle of effectively "swimming" through the sand and hunting small arthropods. On the island of Madagascar, some dinosaurs are highly similar to Mesozoic ones, such as titanosaurs and modern representatives of the genus Megalosaurus. (Aired on September 6, 2019) #The Palearctic Realm - In this realm's temperate climates (Eurasia with the exception of Arabia, South-East Asia and India) there are small and colonial pachycephalosaurs and the "bricket", a fuzzy hadrosaur whose brightly colored tail can act as a warning signal. Predators include the "jinx", a dromaeosaurid adapted to mimic larger herbivorous dinosaurs through scent and appearance. In the deserts of the south, large ankylosaurs such as the "taranter" have adapted their ancestral armor to also function as a means to conserve moisture. In the far north, large migratory birds such as the "tromble" with legs almost like tree trunks, roam the land. (Aired on November 1, 2019) #The Nearctic Realm - In this realm (North America) most herbivores are members of the family Sprintosauridae, referred to as "sprintosaurs", descendants of the Mesozoic hadrosaurs adapted to a new lifestyle on the grass-covered plains. Also present on the plains are predatory dromaeosaurids and the "monocorn", a large and slow-moving ceratopsid. The mixed woodlands and wetlands are home to bipedal and fishing pterosaurs superficially similar to herons and the "springe", a large-brained descendant of Stenonychosaurus that has adapted an ambush-hunting strategy where it mimics being dead to attract scavengers that it can kill and eat. (Aired on January 3, 2020) #The Neotropical Realm - The tropical rainforests of this realm (South America and southern North America) are home to amphibious hypsilophodonts as well as highly specialized arbrosaurs such as a pangolin-like form and a variety that feeds on nectar. Sauropods descended from the titanosaurs are present on the pampas grasslands, such as the heavily armored "turtosaur" and the trunked "lumber". The apex predator of the pampas, the "cutlasstooth", has evolved huge, cutting teeth to allow it to prey upon the large sauropods. The pampas is also home to the last of the tyrannosaurids, the large scavenging "gourmand". (Aired on March 6, 2020) #The Oriental Realm - The smallest biogeographic realm (South-East Asia and India) contains diverse environments and animals, such as the great "rajaphants" of the plains, massive sauropods living in herds, and bamboo-eating hypsilophodonts. In the swamps, there are aquatic hypsilophodonts that have evolved convergently with the amphibious hypsilophodonts of the Neotropical realm and pterosaurs using their wings as traps to lure in fish. (Aired on May 1, 2020) #The Australasian Realm - This realm (Oceania) is the most isolated and self-contained. In the scrub and tall grass savanna there are flamingo-like coelurosaurs and iguanodonts capable of jumping like kangaroos. There are also tree-living and herbivorous hypsilophodonts, superficially similar to the abrosaurs of the rest of the world, and terrestrial, fruit-eating pterosaurs that have completely lost their wings. The tropical islands surrounding Australia are home to the "coconut grab", an ammonite capable of spending more time on land than its ancestors and feeding on coconuts, which it sometimes climbs trees to get to. (Aired on July 3, 2020) #The Oceans - These are home to various pterosaurs, such as seagull-like and penguin-like forms. There is also the "whulk", a massive whale-like pliosaur that feeds exclusively on plankton. The "kraken", an enormous ammonite, uses specialized tentacles to entangle and sting anything that comes near it. (Aired on September 4, 2020) Category:Dougal Dixon Category:Speculative Evolution Category:Fred the Ostrich Enterprises